Best moments from TLC 2018

The TLC PPV was for the most part, a success.

Some matches delivered on the hype while others were just middle of the road. Some had welcome surprise finishes, but a couple failed to deliver.

The Intercontinental Championship Match between bitter rivals Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose didn't seem to have the passion behind it that it should have. For how the PPV match was built up, you would have expected them to barely be able to keep their hands off of each other.

The Triple Threat Match for the Smackdown Tag Team Titles had its moments, but perhaps I expected more from the three teams involved.

Kurt Angle returned to get his revenge on Baron Corbin, leading up to what should be an interesting episode of Raw.

Here are some of the best moments of TLC 2018.

6) Score two for the little guys

Both Rey Mysterio and Finn Balor picked up victories at TLC

Much to my surprise and delight, both Finn Balor and Rey Mysterio were victorious in their respective matches at TLC. Mysterio was the obvious underdog in his match against Randy Orton as Orton had terrorized the Lucha Legend on every Smackdown leading up to the PPV.

The match was even between the two for the most part, but Mysterio got the upper hand in the closing sequence of the match. Since he won by roll-up, Orton was still kept looking strong and will presumably seek revenge on Smackdown.

Finn Balor stole a victory from Drew McIntyre in their match. He was built up as basically a sacrifice to the help create the mystique of Drew as a main-event heel. Thanks in part to some interference from another person Drew had wronged, Dolph Ziggler, Balor was able to pick up an important win on PPV.

Ziggler entered through the crowd, hit McIntyre with a super kick before Balor finished the 'Scottish Psychopath' off with the 'Coup de Grace'.

For two wrestlers who were both built up a vicious threats, both Randy Orton and McIntyre fell to the physically smaller opponents.

Their feuds aren't likely over, though.

5) Raw Women's Title Match Delivers

Ronda defeated the duo that has menaced her over the last month

Not only did the match between Ronda Rousey and Nia Jax deliver but another important thing happened - Jax didn't injure Rousey.

Most of Jax's argument heading into her title match focused on her focusing on her right hand. She stared lovingly at it during a promo on Raw and WWE made constant reference to it ad nauseam as the #facebreaker.

Maybe they realized that they couldn't have someone as reckless as Jax injuring their prized free agent signing. It makes sense.

But outside of that, both women were presented as equals throughout the match. Each had her moments of dominance and Ronda even broke out a few new moves like her step-up Superwoman punch. Rousey has been better than advertised in the ring and is ahead of a lot of the other women on the roster in terms of in-ring skill.

The right call was made for Rousey to win, but she probably has a match with Tamina in her near future after she pointed at Tamina as she made Jax tap out.

4) Baron Corbin gets his comeuppance

The Baron Corbin Era of GM abuse is over

One of the most emotionally fulfilling matches was Baron Corbin 'losing' his TLC match to Braun Strowman and Co.

Before Heath Slater could complete his 10-count in order to award the match to Corbin via forfeit, Strowman stormed down to the ring with his arm in a sling. He grabbed a mic and said since this match was no-DQ, perhaps people who have been wronged by Corbin during his interim-GM run might get involved.

That led to Apollo Crews, Bobby Roode and Chad Gable, Finn Balor and Kurt Angle all interfering at one point to aid Braun. After all of the interference, Strowman entered the ring, put his foot on the prone Corbin and won the match.

Hopefully he'll be ready for the Royal Rumble.

With the win, Corbin's reign of terror is essentially over. What's next for him is anyone's guess, but him losing his power was both cathartic for the fans and all involved in sending him away.

3) First-ever Women's TLC Match Closes out the show

WWE made the right call in having the Smackdown Women's Title match close out the show

With the announcement that TLC 2018 would showcase the first-ever TLC match for the women of WWE, it was debated as to whether or not the match would main-event the TLC PPV. Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks closed out a Hell in a Cell PPV with their match and the Womens' Royal Rumble closed out the Rumble PPV last year.

With the popularity of Becky Lynch as the Smackdown Champion lately, it made sense to have the women main-event the PPV.

The Baron Corbin match wouldn't have had any wrestling in it, thus not necessitating a main-event slot. The WWE Championship match could have closed out the show as it was among the best of the night.

But thankfully, WWE backed up its claims of making history withe the women of the promotion. If all of these signs are pointing anywhere, it's to the potential main-event slot of Wrestlemania 35.

2) WWE Championship Match delivers

AJ Styles failed to regain the WWE Championship he spent most of this year defending

The quality of this match was probably never in doubt, but some of the matches Styles had with Nakamura and Samoa Joe left a lot to be desired.

But Styles, like Daniel Bryan, is among the best in-ring workers/technicians of this or any generation. Styles is often asked to carry a lot of the matches he's in and that's something that Bryan is usually tasked with.

Since both are extremely talented, they were allowed to focus on each other and the psychology of the feud. Both guys were brutal in their attempts to hurt the other.

Styles often looked hell-bent on ending Bryan and he often paid Bryan back throughout the match, with the stomps to the face, the ankle lock and the figure four around the post.

Bryan and Styles pulled out all the stops. For a match without a stipulation at TLC, these guys arguably stole the show.

Bryan surprisingly won a clean match, leaving Styles to go back to the drawing board.

1) Main Event match delivers in many ways

The triple threat match for the Smackdown Women's Championship delivered on many levels. Each woman was brutalized at one point during the match, and each had a chance to shine during the match.

Charlotte Flair was again presented the strongest, however, often rising a lot sooner than superstars do after suffering serious damage. They're obviously trying to keep her looking strong for her upcoming match with Ronda Rousey.

Becky had her moment when she jumped off the ladder onto Charlotte on the German announce table.

Asuka often tied things together, attacking both women with a kendo stick while also moving off of the announce table during Becky's jump. She also got speared by Charlotte through the barricade.

Another slight shocker was the interference of Ronda Rousey in the match. If you didn't watch a lot of the backstage clips throughout the show, you wouldn't have heard her say that she was going to get revenge on Charlotte. If you just watched the matches, you wouldn't have seen that foreshadowing for later in the main event.

During the closing sequence of the match, all three ladies were battling atop two ladders. Asuka was knocked off one ladder, leaving Becky and Charlotte to battle each other on the other.

While Asuka was down, Rousey stormed down to the ring and pushed over the ladder that both Lynch and Flair were on.

That left a single ladder left standing in the ring for Asuka to climb. The Empress of Tomorrow finally won a title on the main roster and it was a long time coming. She's often been the forgotten woman in the division, but her winning the title offers up a lot of interesting match ups heading forward.

Kudos for the women and how they pulled out all the stops in the match. Becky took a lot more shots to the face than I had anticipated, even more so than the other two women.

The outcome of the match also provides a path for all four women and their potential matches in April.